Legislative Assembly · District of Oakleigh
Brooke Carter
Last verified 11 Oct 2026
Seat context — Oakleigh›
Oakleigh is a Labor seat in Melbourne's south-east, held by Steve Dimopoulos since 2014. In 2022 he won 45.0% of first preferences and 63.5% two-party-preferred against the Liberals' Jim Grivokostopoulos, ahead of the Greens' Hsiang-Han Hsieh on 16.6%. Dimopoulos is recontesting, now as Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC, Sport and Equality after the 4 August 2026 ministry. The 2026 field is four candidates: Dimopoulos, the Liberals' Martin Jung, the Greens' Hsiang-Han Hsieh (recontesting) and the Victorian Socialists' Rowdy Bugter. The Tally Room says Labor will probably hold but the Liberals will likely reduce the margin.
Background
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Her profile says her focus is "strong leadership, public safety, responsibility, respect and common sense", and that Victoria needs change and leadership to build "a stronger, safer and more stable future for the next generation".
Community safety, repeat offending, victim support and consistent application of the law are the only specific themes in her profile.
What Victorians say matters most
5 poll-led issuesCost of living and crime have ranked 1st or 2nd in every Victorian poll since mid‑2025, with debt and housing close behind — see schema §3 for the polling this grouping is based on (DemosAU, Ipsos Issues Monitor, Roy Morgan). The 0-10 'priorityScore' on each candidate's issue entries is NOT a measure of true importance or an independent ranking of what a candidate actually cares about. It reflects how much detail and specificity exists in what that candidate has actually said publicly on that issue -- a named policy mechanism and a verified voting record score higher than a one-line stated priority, regardless of the issue's real-world weight. Render this distinction in the UI wherever the score appears; do not label it just 'Priority' without the qualifier.
Cost of living
Party platform (not candidate-specific): wind back Labor's land tax increases on rental properties and small property owners without promising to scrap the tax, lift the payroll tax threshold, and abolish the 10% stamp duty on home, contents and car insurance.
The party's cost-of-living page also commits to reviewing every government fee, tax and charge in the cost of a new home.
Launch coverage reported a regional payroll tax scrap, a higher payroll tax threshold, wound-back land tax increases and cheaper business set-up. Reports also noted the party had not released costings.
Crime and community safety
In her own profile: "I will be unapologetically tough on crime. I believe in strong sentencing, real law and order, and stricter bail for violent offenders."
Her profile frames the issue around repeat offending and victim support: government must keep people safe, strengthen accountability and apply the law fairly and consistently.
Party launch policies reported by ABC and The Guardian include lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10, charging young offenders of serious violent crimes as adults, and holding parents liable for fines and property damage caused by their children.
Reported measures also include more magistrates, a 24-hour bail court, three new outer-suburban magistrates' courts, a controlled capsicum spray trial and recruiting up to 10,000 ADF veterans into police. The party's own crime policy page was still marked "update in progress" when checked.
Housing affordability and supply
Party platform (not candidate-specific): review fees and charges on new homes, release under-used government land, put a legal time limit on planning and building approvals, free up granny flats and spare-room rentals, and raise the foreign purchaser duty.
The platform also attributes rent pressure partly to net overseas migration and proposes incentives for private and community providers to deliver low-cost housing.
State government debt and fiscal management
Party platform (not candidate-specific): the cost-of-living page says Victoria's debt has "blown out to the highest in the country" under Labor and promises to "be honest about the numbers" on tax changes.
Launch coverage noted The Age reported One Nation had not released costings for its policies. The party's fiscal management policy page was marked "update in progress".
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Launch coverage reported a pledge to scrap the Suburban Rail Loop and redirect funds to the Airport Rail line and electrification of the Melton line. This is party policy, not a statement by Carter.
Also on the record
6 substance issuesThese don't top “biggest issue” polling, but carry real 2026 policy weight and genuine differences between parties.
Education and training
Party platform (not candidate-specific): replace the Victorian Curriculum with a sequenced, knowledge-rich syllabus, back systematic phonics and explicit instruction, expand trade schools and specialist behaviour settings, and require workable behaviour protocols in every school.
The platform also proposes school vouchers so public funding follows the student across government, independent, faith-based and specialist schools.
Health and healthcare access
Party platform (not candidate-specific): a real-time statewide view of surgical and specialist waiting lists, public targets to treat Category 1 and 2 patients within clinically recommended times, and an end to chronic ambulance ramping.
It also promises 24/7 emergency departments and core maternity and surgical capacity in major regional hospitals, and redirecting administrative savings to nurses, doctors and beds.
Urban planning and housing density
Party platform (not candidate-specific): require genuine community consultation before high-rise development is imposed on established suburbs, and put a legal clock on planning and building approvals.
Climate and energy transition
Party platform (not candidate-specific): scrap all net-zero targets and subsidies, cancel VNI West and the Western Renewables Link, and reverse the ban on gas connections in new homes.
It also promises to repeal the Nuclear Activities (Prohibitions) Act 1983 and to support long-term investment in upgrading coal power infrastructure.
Launch coverage reported the same net-zero, transmission, gas and nuclear pledges.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Launch coverage reported the party would scrap the statewide Treaty and abolish the First Peoples' representative body, Gellung Warl. No statement by Carter on this was found.
Regional and rural Victoria
Party platform (not candidate-specific): restrict water trading to those with land to irrigate, reinstate a 1,500 GL cap on buybacks, and ban industrial solar, wind, battery and transmission projects on irrigated, flood-prone, bushfire-prone and water-catchment land.
The farming platform also promises to reinstate the 35 fisheries officers cut in 2025. Oakleigh is a metropolitan seat, so this is party policy rather than a local issue for Carter.
Local & party context
2 fieldsNot scored the way the eleven issues above are — these are fixed facts about the seat and the party, not positions with more or less emphasis behind them.
Track record & prior candidacies
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Under the Electoral Act 2002 (Vic), a candidate is eligible for public funding if they receive at least 4% of first-preference votes in their contest or are elected, per the VEC's April 2025 expenditure statement (accessed 2026-10-11).
Payment is reimbursement of eligible campaign expenditure, up to a per-vote amount that is indexed annually. The 2026 per-vote rate was not confirmed. A One Nation endorsed candidate's entitlement may be claimed through the registered party rather than by the candidate individually.